But the numbers also show just how eager brands are to find their way into shows and events that have become appointment viewing. The show airs seven nights a week, and the format \u2014 a group of singles lives together in a villa where the goal is to \u201ccouple up,\u201d fall in love and avoid elimination, while fans vote on social media in real-time for their favorite couples \u2014 creates ample room for product placement, like sponsored challenges or branded walls of beauty products in rooms where contestants get ready. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And brands can\u2019t get enough of the sponsorship potential. Six of the seven integrated partners \u2014 which include CeraVe, Coffee-Mate and Maybelline \u2014 have returned from last season, and they\u2019re showing up in a variety of ways. Maybelline is the official beauty partner of \u201cLove Island USA\u201d \u2014 this season, it supplied products for the Islanders to get ready, and its products showed up in a \u201cFairytale Ending\"- themed challenge. Its ads also appeared in preview clips, and Maybelline was part of the official \u201cLove Island USA\u201d app. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReturning partners came back because they saw the combination of scale, engagement and impact that Love Island USA delivers,\u201d Kimberly Francella-Faver, svp of brand partnerships at NBCUniversal said in an email. \u201cLove Island USA has become a true cultural phenomenon because of the combination of everything that makes great entertainment \u2014 compelling storytelling, a passionate fan community, memorable talent and moments that audiences want to discuss in real time.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prebiotic soda brand Poppi\u2019s sponsorship is indicative of how the show has become a phenomenon brands can\u2019t ignore. Last year, one of the fan-favorite contestants was Amaya Espinal, nicknamed \u201cAmaya Papaya.\u201d As the social media buzz around her grew, Poppi decided to create a limited-edition flavor and custom can, called Amaya\u2019s Island Colada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe response was incredible and reinforced something we care deeply about as a brand: when you listen to your community and celebrate the moments they're already creating, the connection is much stronger,\u201d Poppi\u2019s vice president of culture, Sophia Sesto, said in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, Poppi decided to sign on this year as an official global partner of the \u201cLove Island\u201d franchise, with its partnership spanning both the U.S. and U.K. editions of \u201cLove Island.\u201d The company brought back a limited-edition punch flavor \u2014 its best-selling flavor launch last summer \u2014 now branded as \u201cPunch Pop X Love Island.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n From there, Sesto said that Poppi built a 360-degree campaign that extended well beyond the show itself, including national retail displays, in-show integrations, creator collaborations, a partnership with fan-favorite Islander Olandria Carthen, branded watch parties, sweepstakes, gaming integrations, and live fan experiences across both the U.S. and U.K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRather than treating Love Island as a standalone sponsorship, we used it as the centerpiece of our summer marketing strategy,\u201d Sesto added. \u201cEvery aspect was designed to give fans new ways to engage with the show and with Poppi throughout the season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sesto said that across Poppi\u2019s owned social channels, \u201cLove Island\u201d content generated more than 33 million impressions with a 16% engagement rate. Creator content surrounding the campaign, meanwhile, drove more than 212 million views. Weekly giveaways also attracted more than 8,000 new email subscribers and 3,000 new SMS subscribers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Andrea Ogunbadejo, global head of production at VaynerX, said that the success of \u201cLove Island,\u201d both in the U.S. and the U.K., shows the current demand for \u201cappointment TV\u201d among both viewers and advertisers \u2014 that is, TV that\u2019s designed for people to watch together and discuss with their friends. Major sporting events like the World Cup are another example of this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have friends who love 'Love Island,' and I'm having full-blown conversations with them about it. And they're like, \u2018Oh, do you watch it?\u2019\" Ogunbadejo said. \"No, but I know what's going on. So that's [an example] of how much it permeates culture.\" <\/p>\n\n\n\n In turn, for advertisers, \u201cthere's so much richness for in-person experiential opportunities \u2014 people gathering [for events], watch parties\" \u2014 that can then be amplified and measured through digital advertising, she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While it may not make sense for every brand to advertise through a show like \"Love Island\" \u2014 Ogunbadejo said it depends on how much a brand\u2019s audience intersects with the show\u2019s viewership \u2014 it\u2019s something that gives brands \u201can opportunity to have a voice and be part of a conversation.\u201d While The Home Depot is not a sports equipment or sports apparel retailer, its consumer base has given it ample reason to develop a comprehensive retail media strategy around the World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Customers often come to The Home Depot and other home improvement retailers to solve a problem or take on a project \u2014 especially working professionals like remodelers, painters, electricians, plumbers and other contractors. Hispanics make up around 30% of the construction workforce<\/a> in the U.S, and U.S. Hispanic consumers surveyed by Nielsen in 2024 or 2025 were 87% more likely to say they had watched a World Cup qualifier match in the past 12 months, according to a 2025 Nielsen report<\/a>. Hispanic individuals are also 39% more likely than the total population to be avid Major League Soccer fans, Nielsen found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Molly Battin, svp and CMO of The Home Depot, told the Hispanic Marketing Council<\/a> last month that the company expects \u201cmulticultural\u201d customers \u2014 led by Latinos \u2014 to make up more than 40% of the home improvement category by 2040. \u201cWe see the Hispanic market and the Latino community as a huge growth opportunity for The Home Depot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Orange Apron, sports marketing in general has also been an opportunity to drive deeper partnerships with supplier partners through big cultural moments. The company has done College Game Day partnerships over the years as well as deals with MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team, March Madness and NCAA, Dominie said. \u201cWe're talking about partnerships that extend beyond our traditional media, whether it be digital or linear, to real, grassroots fan engagement opportunities.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Orange Apron's involvement in the World Cup has included in-person events and in-store activations, primarily featuring the paint brand Behr and the power tools manufacturer Makita. Centering its activations around just a couple of brands has allowed Orange Apron to co-create more interactive and tailored experiences, Dominie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Home Depot has hosted interactive houses called \"Beckham's Backyard\"<\/a> at official FIFA Fan Festivals that featured Behr and Makita, allowing them to have a presence at official FIFA events in cities such as Atlanta without being official FIFA sponsors. The activations are named after former soccer player and club owner David Beckham, who also has appeared in national commercials and digital content for The Home Depot during the World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The activations included a Behr-sponsored digital target-practice game where fans kicked soccer balls, as well as a Makita-hosted station where guests could decorate paper fans, according to Sports Business Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The retailer also collaborated with soccer media network Men In Blazers on a bus that doubles as a studio<\/a> for Men In Blazers. It has been traveling to World Cup host cities, with signage featuring Behr and Makita. In stores, The Home Depot offered a custom FIFA scarf to customers who bought certain Makita power tools. Outside of the advertising business, on the enterprise level, The Home Depot was doing in-store integrations around the World Cup with sweepstakes components and ticket giveaway opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe really went into this knowing that we wanted an integrated, fully omnichannel experience that we were creating for our customers and in partnership with our brands,\" Dominie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Home Depot is also having a bus going around to different cities in the U.S. for watch parties where fans and pro customers can participate in events such as T-shirt giveaways and cornhole tournaments, also presented by Behr and Makita. \u201cWe want it to be more fun, because it's a watch party, essentially, but still an opportunity for Behr to engage their top pros, engage the traditional DIY fan base, and talk about what makes Behr and Makita special and relevant \u2014 and do it in kind of a fun way, with giveaways and some engaging activities during those fan fests.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dominie said The Home Depot has not yet measured the success of the World Cup partnerships, as it is still ongoing, but plans to look at brand lift and purchase intent. She added, however, that the company has found co-branded sports sponsorship programs can increase purchase intent by as much as 40%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt's truly a partnership where we align on common goals, and we co-create opportunities to create value for our customers and [clients'] customers, and create meaningful moments that are unique to what only we can do together,\" Dominie said. \"It goes beyond sponsorship, and it's about partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Andrew Lipsman, a retail media industry analyst at Media, Ads + Commerce, said that because advertising has moved toward digital performance media, it can be easy to forget that good advertising works through cultural relevance and high-quality content reaching wide audiences \u2014 such as through experiential marketing and national TV advertising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you can reach the right audiences ... and show that there is that alignment around common events or common cultural moments, it creates brand affinity,\" Lipsman said. \"That brand affinity doesn't have to translate into a sale at the store at that moment; it just makes you slightly more inclined to visit that store and slightly more inclined to purchase a brand over time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ace Hardware has also found that a high share of its customers are interested in sports such as soccer and baseball, according to Tyler Lusebrink, head of brand partnerships at RedVest Media, Ace Hardware's retail media division that launched last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur focus generally has been: How can we partner with our brand partners to really take advantage of capturing some of that engagement from customers during this big cultural moment?\" Lusebrink said. Brands wanting to take advantage of the World Cup are executing full-funnel campaigns with \u201ca heavy lean into off-site programmatic, broad awareness-type tactics that can engage with customers throughout their journey,\" he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These aren\u2019t necessarily campaigns with creative themed around the World Cup \u2014 Ace Hardware is not an official sponsor \u2014 but they may amplify national messaging that brands are already pushing to reach customers who may be watching the World Cup and related content. ACE Hardware has a media partnership with Epsilon to deploy assets across websites across the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe see the World Cup in cultural moments like this as an opportunity for brands to engage with the customer directly in a high-intent mindset,\" Lusebrink said. \"They're online, they're doing research, they're looking at game recaps and highlights, and brands know that they can get in front of consumers and engage with them to drive them into their brand.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","post_title":"Hispanic shoppers and pro customers are key to The Home Depot's World Cup retail media strategy","post_excerpt":"While The Home Depot is not a sports equipment or sports apparel retailer, its consumer base has given it ample reason to develop a comprehensive retail media strategy around the World Cup.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"hispanic-shoppers-and-pro-customers-are-key-to-the-home-depots-world-cup-retail-media-strategy","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-09 17:02:25","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-09 21:02:25","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164649","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/mls-fans-digiday.webp?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/marketing\/hispanic-shoppers-and-pro-customers-are-key-to-the-home-depots-world-cup-retail-media-strategy","categories":[{"term_id":200,"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":200,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":1384,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":200,"category_count":1384,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Marketing","category_nicename":"marketing","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 10, 2026","meta_title":"Hispanic shoppers and pro customers are key to The Home Depot's World Cup retail media strategy","excerpt":"While The Home Depot is not a sports equipment or sports apparel retailer, its consumer base has given it ample reason to develop a comprehensive retail media strategy around the World Cup."},{"ID":164755,"post_author":"4982","post_date":"2026-07-09 11:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-09 15:00:00","post_content":"\n Like many agencies, Envision Horizons has been trying to get a better sense of how referral traffic from generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini is starting to influence purchases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, the full-service Amazon agency released an AI visibility tracker in beta to get a better sense of how much its clients may be benefiting from this type of traffic. It has also commissioned two surveys<\/a> within the past year to examine how people are using AI in their shopping journey \u2014 and how much that may be changing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Laura Meyer, founder and CEO of Envision Horizons, put it in an interview with me, she doesn\u2019t know exactly how much traffic her clients may have received from AI platforms during Prime Day, Amazon\u2019s most recent big sales event. But this year, Amazon did run ads in ChatGPT promoting Prime Day<\/a>. So it probably played a bigger role, even if she can\u2019t exactly quantify it. And it is only poised to play a bigger role in tentpole shopping events like Prime Day and Black Friday going forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In turn, she wants to get a better sense of how her clients \u2014 and their products \u2014 are showing up on these AI platforms. That\u2019s why her agency built its AI visibility tracker. And many Amazon agencies are going through a similar calculus right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even as Amazon itself has limited<\/a> how third-party AI shopping agents can scrape its site, it has made clear that it expects them to play a greater role in purchasing decisions going forward. That\u2019s evidenced by recent decisions like buying ads on ChatGPT promoting Prime Day and integrating its own AI shopping agent, Alexa for Shopping<\/a>, more prominently into the main search bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The challenge is that, right now, Amazon sellers have little to no data to go off of to quantify exactly how much traffic they are getting from AI shopping agents \u2014 both from Alexa for Shopping and from third-party agents like ChatGPT.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hope for Envision Horizons is that the AI visibility tracker will provide the agency with more data, enabling it to optimize copywriting for Alexa for Shopping. In the meantime, when asked by clients how to best optimize their product listings for AI, she says that a lot of it boils down to the fundamentals, like\u00a0 \u201cmaking sure your data infrastructure is consistent across channels and that it's accurate\u201d so that LLMs have accurate information to pull from. Since reviews also play an important role in feeding LLMs, she advises brands to go back to the \u201cmarketing fundamentals of making sure that how you're positioning your product is aligned with how it actually performs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in the meantime, she\u2019s taking pages from Amazon\u2019s playbook. During the fall Prime Day event, her firm will also likely run ads in ChatGPT, and potentially other LLMs. \u201cAt the last minute, we were actually trying to set up [ad] accounts on ChatGPT for some clients [for Prime Day], but unfortunately it takes like five business days to get your account approved,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUntil Amazon actually shows me the data of the consumer behavior, it\u2019s hard for me to jump to any conclusions,\u201d said Will Haire, co-founder and CEO of marketplace management agency BellaVix. In the search query reports he gets from Amazon, he\u2019s starting to see more long-tail searches being performed, like people searching for \u201cbest coffee maker under $100,\u201d rather than simply searching for \u201cbest coffee maker,\u201d as one example. He believes this may be because people are interacting with AI search agents more and becoming accustomed to longer prompts. But it\u2019s hard to prove out.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the meantime, he\u2019s advising clients not to put the cart before the horse. Yes, AI is going to play a bigger role in traffic going forward, but \u201cI remind them that a majority of [traditional] search is still happening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, \u201cdirect traffic is not painting the whole story,\u201d said Victoria Mauriello, head of advisory services, North America at digital market intelligence company Similarweb. Similarweb estimates indicate that AI-driven traffic to Amazon has more than doubled over the past six months, driving about 13.9 million visits to Amazon in the month of June. That would only account for about 1% of Amazon\u2019s traffic.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that also doesn\u2019t account for people who perhaps go to Reddit first to read reviews about different models of coffee makers. Then, they pick their top three models and go to ChatGPT to weigh the pros and cons of each. Then, they search once again for the product on Google, and do price comparisons across different sites, before finally checking out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So in the first quarter of this year, Similarweb commissioned a study to try and get a better sense of what indirect role AI may be playing in traffic. In its study of MacBook buyers across Apple.com, Amazon, Walmart, Target and Best Buy, direct AI-attributed traffic was about 2%. But the percentage of buyers who had a category-relevant AI chat session in the 30 minutes prior to purchasing was much larger, at about 28.53%.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cConsumers are using [AI agents] at some point during their journey to do research and eventually landing on Amazon,\u201d Mauriello said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The thesis driving Meyer\u2019s strategy at Envision Horizons is that \u201cdiscovery is happening everywhere, but transactions are taking place on Amazon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have seen a huge shift in how and what drives success on Amazon,\u201d Meyer said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHistorically, you could really capture a lot of the demand that lived on Amazon,\u201d she added. \u201c\u200b\u200bBut as the platform has become more competitive, brands have had to evolve.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are three pillars driving what she calls the \u201cAmazon funnel 2.0.\u201d She believes that TikTok Shop and affiliates are having a growing halo effect on Amazon sales \u2014 and that AI is poised to be the third pillar.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAI is [going to be] kind of the authority of who's ultimately going to win the purchase,\u201d she said. \u201cIt just allows consumers to be so much more informed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sam\u2019s Club has partnered with Weight Watchers on new membership benefits, including a program that provides medical support to GLP-1 users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Members of Sam\u2019s Club Plus can opt for a free three-month Weight Watchers Core membership, which they can continue after that for $10 per month, Sam\u2019s Club said Thursday. Additionally, standard Sam\u2019s Club members can save up to 50% on Weight Watchers\u2019 Core+ and Med+ programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This marks another expansion of Sam's Club's membership benefits as well as its work in the health and wellness sector. The free Weight Watchers subscription is the latest addition to Sam\u2019s Club Plus, the retailer\u2019s elevated membership program with additional benefits that first launched in 1999. Sam\u2019s Club has added many new benefits to the program since 2024, including free same-day delivery on orders over $50 and on prescription medications, eyewear promotions, and $5 delivery in three hours or less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sam's Club Plus typically costs $120 annually, while the standard club membership costs $60 per year \u2014 though both are currently discounted at $55 and $25 for the first year, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the pharmacy business has been a key growth area for Sam\u2019s Club. In 2025, the company launched free same-day prescription delivery for Sam\u2019s Club Plus members, made improvements to its curbside pickup and launched a new pet insurance<\/a> program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know that our members are focused on healthier living, and this partnership helps us bring that to them in a more accessible and affordable way,\" Myron Frazier, chief merchandising officer of Sam\u2019s Club, told Modern Retail in an exclusive interview. \"Consumer expectations around health and wellness are changing rapidly, and increasingly people want trusted and affordable solutions.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Core+ includes personalized wellness support, food and nutrition recommendations, and access to virtual and in-person workshops. The Med+ program provides access to GLP-1 prescriptions through an affiliated medical group \u2014\u00a0excluding medication costs \u2014 as well as virtual clinician visits and support related to GLP-1 medications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis new collaboration between Weight Watchers and Sam\u2019s Club opens up access to trusted wellness expertise, value and convenience to help members take meaningful steps toward their wellness goals, whether they are focused on nutrition, weight management, medication support or overall well-being,\u201d said Scott Honken, chief commercial officer for Weight Watchers, in a statement provided by Sam's Club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Sam's Club and Weight Watchers partnership is not solely meant to cater to GLP-1 users, Frazier said, adding that it is centered around the increased importance of weight health to overall wellness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile these medications may be appropriate for some, for us, it's really more about bringing together nutrition, behavioral support, health-food access and pharmacy services, and doing it with the community, because we know health journeys look different for every member,\" Frazier said. \"It's not as much about any one medication as it is about providing access for that health journey for our members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Frazier said the Weight Watchers partnership strengthens Walmart's pharmacy offerings by providing access to trusted wellness resources. In an interview with Modern Retail<\/a> last year, Sherri Keeth, vp and divisional merchandise manager of health care and over-the-counter at Sam\u2019s Club (who has since moved over to Walmart's optical division), shared how the retailer is modernizing its pharmacy business and how important that segment is to its overall growth prospects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen our members are engaged in the health care space, \u2026 they renew at a higher rate, they shop more frequently, and they also tend to have a bigger overall basket,\u201d Keeth said. \u201cThey\u2019re just more engaged Sam\u2019s Club members overall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Members also \"tell us that they're looking for healthier choices and greater transparency and products that support healthier lifestyles,\u201d Frazier said, adding that these findings came out of feedback from members through the retailer's Member's Mark Community survey program. \u201cThat continues to influence not only our assortment, but the partnerships that we choose to enter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Walmart, for its part, has rapidly turned to third-party partnerships to add new perks<\/a> to its Walmart+ membership, such as telehealth services through Pawp, Burger King discounts, and free subscriptions to streaming services such Paramount+ and Peacock. Frazier said Sam's Club, is not actively pursuing partnerships, but that \"it is an approach that we will take if it allows us to add more value to our members.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"If there was another partnership that would work, we would, but I wouldn't call it an intended strategic approach for us,\" Frazier added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Scott Benedict, founder and CEO of Benedict Enterprises and a former Walmart and Sam's Club executive, said this reinforces the value of the Sam's Club membership programs by tapping into broader consumer trends about weight loss and GLP-1 medications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"You're bolstering the overall value of membership, but you're putting another layer of savings on there if you are a Plus member that bolsters that value equation of the Plus membership,\" Benedict said. \"Those members tend to be the most valuable, the most frequently shopping at the club or online. You pick out a KPI, and they are the far most valuable members, so adding that additional layer of savings very much makes sense.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond the Weight Watchers partnership, Sam's Club has also sought to meet members' health preferences by evolving its assortment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, Sam's Club said 96% of its Member's Mark private-label food and beverage products were now free of over 40 ingredients such as artificial colors and high-fructose corn syrup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbout four years ago, as we were really early in our stages with the Member's Mark community, one of the things we learned really quickly was that members were interested in foods that were cleaner, and there were certain ingredients that they just didn't feel great about,\" Frazier said.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Sam's Club taps Weight Watchers to expand its membership benefits","post_excerpt":"Sam\u2019s Club has partnered with Weight Watchers on new membership benefits,\u00a0including a program that provides medical support to GLP-1 users.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"sams-club-taps-weight-watchers-to-expand-its-membership-benefits","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-09 11:38:26","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-09 15:38:26","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164749","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/Sams-Club-Associate-with-Crossed-Arms.jpg?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/operations\/sams-club-taps-weight-watchers-to-expand-its-membership-benefits","categories":[{"term_id":202,"name":"Operations","slug":"operations","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":202,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative business operations from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":1654,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":202,"category_count":1654,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative business operations from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Operations","category_nicename":"operations","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 09, 2026","meta_title":"Sam's Club taps Weight Watchers to expand its membership benefits","excerpt":"Sam\u2019s Club has partnered with Weight Watchers on new membership benefits,\u00a0including a program that provides medical support to GLP-1 users."},{"ID":164680,"post_author":"5104","post_date":"2026-07-09 00:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-09 04:00:00","post_content":"\n On July 1, Dollar Shave Club launched its \u201c250 Years. No BS. Still Free\" campaign, created by its in-house team utilizing generative AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The series of digital ad spots<\/a> features America's forefathers in hyper-stylized images fighting back against big razor monopolies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The campaign is also promoting Dollar Shave Club\u2019s ongoing promotion of $2.50 starter kits, one of the largest discounts it has offered since launching in 2012. According to Dollar Shave Club's chief brand and innovation officer, Laura Higgins, the use of generative AI is quickly becoming an effective solution \u201cto bypass legacy agency models\u201d<\/a> and allow the in-house creative team to execute campaigns at a faster rate. Despite increasing backlash toward AI-generated social media content by brands, Higgins says AI is a tool and not a full-on strategy in Dollar Shave Club\u2019s marketing playbook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Higgins has only been with Dollar Shave Club for a couple of months, but the July 4th holiday presented a unique opportunity for her team to quickly test generative AI creatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I got here, we didn't have anything planned for the 4th of July, and that surprised me,\u201d Higgins said, especially given that it coincided with America's 250th anniversary this year. \u201cSo I wanted to use AI to bring that \u2018revolution\u2019 theme into a campaign quickly,\u201d she explained. In the case of Dollar Shave Club, Higgins said its \u201cenough is enough\u201d stance against expensive razors is a nod to America's founding fathers' rebellion against the pricing structures imposed by monopolies on consumer goods like tea and sugar.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo we really leaned in by creating a very obvious AI-generated ad integrating famous paintings,\u201d she said. They include a depiction of Washington crossing the Delaware and the Boston Tea Party, among other Revolutionary War imagery. The campaign video also features Easter eggs, like Dollar Shave Club razors and shave gels in almost every scene. \u201cBut we are using AI as a tool rather than a strategy of trying to trick people into thinking something is real,\u201d Higgins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps the most important aspect was how quickly her team was able to pull the campaign together in time for the America 250 anniversary. Higgins said the campaign was brought together in about three weeks, from connection to launch. \u201cWe have a very small and scrappy internal agency team, so this was done 100% in-house,\u201d said Higgins. \u201cWhat we use AI tools for is the execution.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Higgins and her creative team began by brainstorming the campaign\u2019s concept and potential sequences. From there, the team used Claude and Higgsfield AI to bring multiple iterations of the video to life. \u201cI have a copywriter who then blew it out into a storyboard within a couple of days using Higgsfield,\u201d Higgins said. \u201cThere is still so much human that's involved.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Higgins, the team will not be using the AI approach in every campaign. The company has been testing a few AI-generated ads over the last six months to experiment with what audiences gravitate toward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSome were executed better than others, we admit,\u201d Higgins said. \u201cOur first try was actually a video that made fun of AI campaigns, so it was still very self-aware.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n With time, the marketing team fine-tuned its concepts to get more specific and strike a tone reflective of the brand. For example, an ad promoting the launch of the brand's electric razor line in June ended up receiving largely positive reactions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The ad starred an animatronic Pinocchio character<\/a> proclaiming to be a \u201creal man,\u201d as he showcases using the brand\u2019s electric shaver on his wooden body. The ad was Higgins\u2019 first personal attempt at creating an AI-generated ad at Dollar Shave Club, done in partnership with an external agency. It recently ran another successful AI-generated spot for the launch<\/a> of Dollar Shave Club\u2019s new women\u2019s line in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Higgins said these videos act as animated comedy sketches that lean specifically into the brand\u2019s humorous social media voice, which she believes made them successful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As brands continue to push the envelope with AI-generated marketing campaigns, they risk facing mixed reactions from their customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is pushback today on AI, in general, and I totally understand that because there has been a lot of deception that has been generated through it,\u201d Higgins said. There have also been instances in which brands like Quip have been accused of\u00a0posting<\/a>\u00a0\u201cAI slop\u201d even though<\/span> they had not used any AI tools to create their ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jamie Domenici, chief marketing officer at Klaviyo, said Dollar Shave Club's America 250 campaign is an example of how quickly AI is changing the economics of content creation for brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut it's really a signal of something much bigger,\u201d said Domenici. AI has opened up the ability to be more creative than ever before, but the challenge for brands is still knowing their customer well enough to ensure these AI-generated ads are relevant, consistent and personal every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s tricky because, naturally, Domenici said, customers don't want to be marketed to. \u201cThey want to be understood, and they can tell the difference between a brand talking at them and a brand that gets them,\u201d Domenici said. \u201cAI only earns its keep when it closes that gap.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n But for Dollar Shave Club, Higgins said these AI tools help take the minutiae out of executing a marketing concept, freeing up the marketing team\u2019s time and resources for more projects. Higgins also noted that as more regulations around AI-generated content are put in place, it will become clearer for brands on how to communicate its use to their audiences. New York State, for example, recently<\/a> passed a law that requires advertisers that use generic AI to disclose it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe want to use AI to be irreverent, funny and to also move faster,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I do want to continue to lean into that.\u201d<\/p>\n","post_title":"How Dollar Shave Club decides when to use AI-generated creative","post_excerpt":"Dollar Shave Club has started to embrace using generative AI for ad creative, most recently for its Fourth of July campaign.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-dollar-shave-club-decides-when-to-use-ai-generated-creative","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-08 18:52:23","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-08 22:52:23","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164680","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/250_Product-Feature.png?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/marketing\/how-dollar-shave-club-decides-when-to-use-ai-generated-creative","categories":[{"term_id":200,"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":200,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":1384,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":200,"category_count":1384,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Marketing","category_nicename":"marketing","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 09, 2026","meta_title":"How Dollar Shave Club decides when to use AI-generated creative","excerpt":"Dollar Shave Club has started to embrace using generative AI for ad creative, most recently for its Fourth of July campaign."},{"ID":164559,"post_author":"5904","post_date":"2026-07-09 00:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-09 04:00:00","post_content":"\n AI-powered glasses are beginning to make an impact on one of the largest vision retailers in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ray-Ban Meta frames produced by EssilorLuxottica are now among the fastest-turning frames in the assortment at National Vision, the parent company of America\u2019s Best and Eyeglass World, according to its CEO, Alex Wilkes. The retailer has about 1,270 retail locations in 40 states, the majority of which are under the America\u2019s Best banner. It sees close to 7 million optometry patients annually and employs 2,000 optometrists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This signals a shift in the vision landscape where cameras are making their way into the optical store, even for less technologically savvy users. National Vision first piloted Ray-Ban Meta glasses last year and quickly scaled it to more than 100 stores. The retailer allows customers to apply their insurance benefit and buy prescription lenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Generally, AI glasses can capture photos and videos using the camera and provide interaction with an AI assistant through built-in speakers and Bluetooth connectivity. Essilor Luxottica and Meta first launched smart glasses together in 2021 and launched a second generation<\/a> in 2023 that added louder speakers and an upgraded camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consumers buying Meta glasses aren\u2019t necessarily AI power users. Wilkes said he was recently in a store where an associate sold a pair of AI glasses to a consumer who wanted the glasses to record his remote-controlled cars from the sidelines. He said others may want to use them to translate restaurant menus or identify flowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are some who are buying it just for the novelty of being able to have a kind of quick snapshot recording of whatever is in their life at any given moment,\u201d Wilkes said. \u201cAs the world becomes more accustomed to and expects instant answers to their curiosities on all sorts of matters, I think that's what's going to continue to drive accelerated proliferation of this product.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wearers of smart glasses are also a valuable new consumer base for National Vision. Wilkes said consumers who buy those frames also buy the most premium lenses, such as Transitions lenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe consumer that is adopting the product is really maximizing their insurance benefit and choosing the most premium lens options available to them,\" he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is just one perspective on the rapid growth of smart glasses, which are fueling growth not just at optical retailers, but also within the overall consumer electronics space. Over the 12 months ending this May, revenue in the smart glasses category has grown 233% to $436 million, according to Ben Arnold, executive director and consumer technology industry analyst at Circana. EssilorLuxottica said earlier this year that it sold over 7 million AI glasses in 2025, CNBC reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The category so far has been dominated by Meta, which has both Ray-Ban and Oakley models as well as new Meta Ray-Ban display glasses, which launched in September<\/a> and add a small full-color display on the right lens that can show images and text. Samsung<\/a> and Snap<\/a> also just announced new glasses, and Arnold said he expects other tech companies like Apple or Amazon to follow suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best Buy, meanwhile, has opened experiential spaces<\/a> in more than 50 stores nationwide where customers can try out Meta\u2019s AI glasses and VR headsets. AI glasses are \u201ca significant growth trend for us,\u201d<\/a> Best Buy's incoming CEO, Jason Bonfig, said on an earnings call in March. \u201cOur relationship with Meta is phenomenal \u2014 the way they show up in our stores and the way we\u2019ve been able to bring their new products to market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe idea of AI for the consumer is kind of a long-tail space where we will have a unique advantage,\u201d Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said on the same call. She mentioned Copilot+, a category of PCs from Microsoft that launched in 2024 \u2014 they feature a dedicated neural processing unit chip that powers AI features like automatically framing video calls and refining writing in documents. \u201cSome of that we\u2019ve already been leaning into, which is about enhancing existing technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brad Jashinsky, a director analyst at Gartner who covers retail, said that as smartphone sales have slowed<\/a>, smart glasses could be the next big product category to help drive the consumer electronics sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor a lot of retailers, especially Best Buy, \u2026 there's a lot of excitement around smart glasses as being that sort of next category to bring people into the stores and help reignite the consumer electronics sector, which for a while has been sort of looking for that next innovation to get sales going again,\" Jashinsky said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This story has been updated to better clarify the sales performance National Vision has seen from the Ray-Ban Meta frames<\/em>. They are now some of the fastest-turning frames in National Vision's assortment. <\/em><\/p>\n","post_title":"Meta's AI glasses are already among the fastest sellers at America's Best, Eyeglass World","post_excerpt":"AI-powered glasses are beginning to make an impact on one of the largest vision retailers in the country.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"metas-ai-glasses-are-already-among-the-fastest-sellers-at-americas-best-eyeglass-world","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-09 16:28:58","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-09 20:28:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164559","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/BelliniJapanMaleGesture_Ray-Ban_Meta_Rectangle_Matte_Black_Clear_Generic_1920x1080_16x9.jpg?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/technology\/metas-ai-glasses-are-already-among-the-fastest-sellers-at-americas-best-eyeglass-world","categories":[{"term_id":201,"name":"Technology","slug":"technology","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":201,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative technology solutions from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":776,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":201,"category_count":776,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative technology solutions from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Technology","category_nicename":"technology","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 09, 2026","meta_title":"Meta's AI glasses are already among the fastest sellers at America's Best, Eyeglass World","excerpt":"AI-powered glasses are beginning to make an impact on one of the largest vision retailers in the country."},{"ID":164553,"post_author":"5792","post_date":"2026-07-09 00:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-09 04:00:00","post_content":"\n As Levi\u2019s grows into a direct-to-consumer denim powerhouse, it is continuing to use the federal court system to protect its design legacy.\u00a0 The lawsuits accuse the brands of using similar design elements that risk customer confusion and can cause harm to the Levi's brand. The suits seek to stop the brands from using elements that look like the Levi's tab, and also ask the defendants to turn over the allegedly infringing products and associated materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then on Wednesday, Levi's filed its quarterly earnings report<\/a>, which shows a \"Legal Settlement Gain\" of $33 million during the first six months of 2026 ending May 31. While it's unclear which company or companies this may come from, a footnote says \"during the six months ended May 31, 2026, the company recognized a gain related to a trademark infringement legal settlement.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Naresh Kilaru, a partner and the head of trademark practice at law firm Finnegan, said it's not uncommon for legacy brands like Levi's to use trademark law to defend their designs. But it can be a challenge to enforce, which is partly why Levi's has been fairly aggressive in enforcing its tab trademark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"Those types of site identification trademarks are very difficult to enforce unless you do it regularly,\" he said. \"It's been part of a broader enforcement program that Levi's has had in place for decades to really make sure that it is the exclusive, or near-exclusive, user of that particular design, because once you allow one third-party to use a tab or don't enforce against it, then that potentially opens the door for others to do it.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other companies Levi's has taken to court over the tab trademark include Rails, 7 for all Mankind<\/a> and Brunello Cucinelli, a case that reached a confidential settlement<\/a> in May 2024. It also reached a settlement with YSL back in 2019.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Levi's President and CEO Michelle Gass said in a prepared statement on Wednesday that the company is seeing faster growth and higher profitability as it evolves into a DTC-first business.\u00a0It reported $1.6 billion in net revenue for the second quarter, an 8% increase over the same time last year. Its DTC revenues grew 11% year over year. In turn, it raised its full-year net revenue outlook to 7-7.5% growth, up from 5.5-6.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"While we are pleased with the progress, we are still in the early stages of our long-term growth journey, with more ways to win than ever before,\" Gass' statement said.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Heading to court with intellectual property in hand is a strategy for many brands seeking to preserve their legacy or fight off dupes. But it's an expensive route, and not all companies may be positioned to take it on. Cassey Ho, founder and CEO of Popflex Active, has told Modern Retail<\/a> that intellectual property litigation has been an expensive line item for her company. Shoe company Hands Free Labs<\/a>, which owns Kizik, has sued Skechers for allegedly infringing its patent on slip-on shoes, and it seeks to make intellectual property a cornerstone of its business, separate from the Kizik brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Federal court data crunched in a recent report from the University of Nevada Las Vegas<\/a> shows that intellectual property cases in 2025 actually ticked down. Trademark lawsuits in particular went from 4,235 filings in federal court to 3,679. About 73% of cases from January 2024 to August 2025 resulted in a settlement, according to the data set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But as Kilaru from Finnegan said, legacy companies may be in a position to have a legal strategy that enforces the brand. In the case of Levi's, the tab trademark protects the label sewn into a seam. On most of its denim, this is a red tab sewn into the side of the pocket, but it also shows up in black, orange or white depending on the collection. Its recent Pride 2026 collection<\/a>, for instance, had black tags with hot pink lettering on some items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From a more technical perspective, Kilaru said part of the strength of\u00a0Levi\u2019s strategy is that the trademark covers any versions of tabs sewn into a seam that competitors may use: \"It's not limited to a rear pocket. It's not limited to jeans. So they are able to claim this very broad set of rights.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though the vast majority of trademark cases settle before they wind up in trial, Kilaru said that brands are increasingly thinking about what kind of intellectual property they can file for to ward off copycats or dupes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"These types of trademarks have actually become more valuable, in a sense, than the normal word trademarks,\" he said. \"And they're more difficult to establish because you have to put the marketing dollars into it, and it takes time to develop.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, \"as a trademark owner, you just have to be very vigilant in policing these sorts of activities,\" Kilaru said. Paul Norris, senior director, organic media, Journey Further<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Visibility used to be everything in organic search, but a fundamental change is occurring in how consumers find brands. Brand exploration, evaluation and conversion are collapsing into a single step \u2014 a consumer prompt now delivers an AI-synthesized answer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this AI-driven search era, a brand\u2019s reputation precedes it. Large language models (LLMs) surface opinions from third-party sources: reviews, editorial coverage, Reddit threads and creator endorsements. In other words, the moment a brand is found is now the moment it is understood and chosen. The implications for marketers are significant, but many brands are not set up to win in this environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The brands that understand this shift are investing in earned media as a reputation-building exercise, not a link-building one. Coverage in trusted publications, citations from credible voices and genuine community advocacy are the signals AI models weigh most heavily. They're how a brand shapes public perception and builds a reputation that surfaces it in AI-driven search results.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most concrete evidence of this search shift appears in how consumers construct their AI queries. Short, broad searches dominated traditional search because that's what keyword-based engines were built to handle. But AI-driven search is built for nuance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Journey Further\u2019s analysis of global search demand in 2026 versus the same period in 2025 found that searches of five to seven words increased 52% year over year, while queries of eight words or more grew 34% (internal data).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than typing a few keywords into search engines, consumers now describe their needs, context and constraints. The user who writes, \u201cI'm going on a 10-day beach holiday. Suggest three dresses I can dress down for walking tours, but style up for dinner. I won\u2019t have an iron,\" will not revert to typing \"maxi dress\" in a subsequent search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The uncomfortable truth for many brand marketers is that AI-driven search models don't learn about a brand primarily from its website, press releases or brand blog. Eighty-four percent of AI citations come from earned media, according to Muck Rack's May 2026 Generative Pulse study<\/a>. Google Search still plays a critical role, too. It surfaces information across the web, defines credibility and filters which publishers' content AI models draw on. So, traditional SEO signals still matter, but those are now the floor, not the ceiling. Brand reputation sits above the floor, built in the places an audience trusts: community platforms, independent reviews, editorial coverage and expert endorsements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being found is table stakes, but AI-driven search determines how a brand is understood and whether that understanding is accurate, positive and consistent enough to earn the click.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For years, digital PR has mainly been a link-building discipline. That framing still holds, but it undersells the reality. Digital PR is one of the most direct levers a brand has to influence its presence in AI-generated answers and shape the way a brand is understood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The content formats that earn the most high-authority links and, by extension, the most AI citation potential are: information on where to get the best products (lists and reviews); reliable, data-backed research (studies and white papers); and trusted expert commentary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Journey Further\u2019s analysis of 4,000 recently acquired high-authority links, using its proprietary Salient tool, found that advice pieces attracted 47% of linking coverage. Product launches and shopping guides, by contrast, generated less than 2% of linking coverage combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The implication is clear: brands that lead with information and expertise, not product, earn more influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a technical dimension to AI discovery that is often overlooked. Most brand websites have been optimized for Google Search, which can render JavaScript and other dynamic content. But LLMs largely can\u2019t do this. Product highlights, usage guides and Q&As that load dynamically for Google Search simply don't exist for AI models. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There has also been a semantic challenge: the product description a consumer types into an AI query often doesn't match a brand\u2019s language. Mapping the full range of audience descriptors \u2014 and building them into a brand\u2019s product feeds and on-page content \u2014 is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Together, these issues extend beyond marketing execution. Pay-per-click advertising and feed management, customer support, logistics and brand buyers all generate signals that shape a brand\u2019s AI search presence. Discovery is everyone's business now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The brands that win in the AI-driven search era will be designed to be found, understood and chosen at every level \u2014 not just by customers, but by the AI models that sit between an audience and a brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Brands can take these steps to increase AI visibility:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shift investment toward earned proof. <\/strong>Third-party validation, reviews and expert coverage are direct inputs into AI-generated recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Map an audience's sources of influence. <\/strong>Understand which publishers and platforms an audience trusts, and make sure the brand is cited in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Audit product data for LLM readability.<\/strong> Ensure content is server-side rendered and that descriptions reflect the natural language an audience uses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Build a prompt bank.<\/strong> Create a structured library of audience questions across Reddit, Google's People Also Ask search feature and AI search queries \u2014 then audit content against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A brand can\u2019t SEO its way out of a bad reputation, and it can't buy its way into a good reputation in AI search. Earned media is the mechanism through which brands can build the trust and credibility that makes them worth recommending. It\u2019s the difference between being present and being chosen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sponsored by Journey Further <\/p>\n","post_title":"Why a brand\u2019s reputation precedes it in the AI-driven search era","post_excerpt":"In the AI-driven search era, a brand\u2019s reputation precedes it. Earned media is the mechanism through which brands can build the trust and credibility that makes them worth recommending. It\u2019s the difference between being present and being chosen. Sponsored by Journey Further\n\n","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"why-a-brands-reputation-precedes-it-in-the-ai-driven-search-era","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-08 17:18:17","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-08 21:18:17","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164713","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/ai-search-digiday.jpg.webp?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/sponsored\/why-a-brands-reputation-precedes-it-in-the-ai-driven-search-era","categories":[{"term_id":11,"name":"Sponsored","slug":"sponsored","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":11,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":198,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":11,"category_count":198,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Sponsored","category_nicename":"sponsored","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 08, 2026","meta_title":"Why a brand\u2019s reputation precedes it in the AI-driven search era","excerpt":"In the AI-driven search era, a brand\u2019s reputation precedes it. Earned media is the mechanism through which brands can build the trust and credibility that makes them worth recommending. It\u2019s the difference between being present and being chosen. Sponsored by Journey Further\n\n"},{"ID":164663,"post_author":"5829","post_date":"2026-07-08 15:37:22","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-08 19:37:22","post_content":"\n Nike is arguably the star student of Kohl's back-to-school efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While other brands like Levi's and Tek Gear are featured in Kohl's latest campaign \u2014 which is titled \"We Are So Back (To School)\"<\/a> \u2014 Nike is front and center when it comes to merchandising and marketing. This summer and fall, Kohl's is creating a \"really strong Nike presence\" in stores by expanding its assortment and showing off full-outfit styling, said Nick Jones, Kohl's chief merchandising officer. Kohl's is also creating Nike-themed tunnel walks in its stores, in line with the cultural rise of \"tunnel fits.\"<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \"On the brand side, we are leaning heavily into the brands that kids are most excited about, leading with Nike,\" Christie Raymond, Kohl's chief marketing officer, said Wednesday on a call with members of the media. \"This is a brand that is continuing to resonate strongly with Gen Alpha and teen shoppers. It's one of their top brands, ... so we think it is a very relevant place for us to focus on.\" Nike was ranked the No. 1 clothing and footwear brand among teenagers in Piper Sandler's 2025 Teen Survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the back-to-school season, Kohl's executives promoted the fact that the retailer is selling thousands of products under $25. Jones mentioned that Kohl's is \"uniquely positioned to deliver more value on great national brands\" and highlighted Nike as a \"back-to-school must-have.\" Online, the hero image for the back-to-school webpage features a pair of Nike sneakers. More than 300 products are tagged as \"Nike school,\" including a $15 girls' tee and $45 boys' joggers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of Kohl's media spots for its back-to-school campaign also shows a group of students wearing Nike clothing, footwear and backpacks. The spot features actress and Kohl's ambassador Ellie Kemper, who stars as \"Kohl's Mom.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kohl's isn't the only retailer to invest more in Nike. While Nike initially slashed<\/a>\u00a0a number of retail partners to better focus on DTC, it's now trying to boost its wholesale business<\/a> \u2014 and thus, its sales. In the last couple of years, Nike has resumed relationships with DSW, Macy's and Amazon<\/a>. On June 30, Nike reported that its wholesale revenues for the fourth quarter were $6.6 billion, up 4% on a reported basis. \"We've been rebuilding our wholesale relationships, expanding our outreach and improving how we show up across channels,\" Nike CEO Elliott Hill said on a June 30 earnings call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even as Kohl's invests more in Nike, it's developing its in-house brands, too, executives stressed. These include Jumping Beans, LC Lauren Conrad and FLX. On Wednesday's call, Jones said Kohl's has made \"significant investment in our proprietary brands to deliver more value for our customers.\" He continued, \"We've expanded the assortments, we've got stronger presentations, we've got much clearer brand positioning, and we're really, really focused on making sure the customers can understand exactly what each brand stands for.\"<\/p>\n","post_title":"Kohl's zeroes in on Nike for back-to-school marketing","post_excerpt":"Kohl's is \"leaning heavily\" into Nike as part of its new back-to-school campaign, executives shared. The investment includes a broader assortment, as well as Nike-themed tunnel-walk installations in stores. ","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"kohls-zeroes-in-on-nike-for-back-to-school-marketing","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-08 15:49:42","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-08 19:49:42","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164663","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/Kohls-Back-to-School.jpeg?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/marketing\/kohls-zeroes-in-on-nike-for-back-to-school-marketing","categories":[{"term_id":200,"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":200,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":1384,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":200,"category_count":1384,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Marketing","category_nicename":"marketing","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 08, 2026","meta_title":"Kohl's zeroes in on Nike for back-to-school marketing","excerpt":"Kohl's is \"leaning heavily\" into Nike as part of its new back-to-school campaign, executives shared. The investment includes a broader assortment, as well as Nike-themed tunnel-walk installations in stores. "},{"ID":164542,"post_author":"5829","post_date":"2026-07-08 00:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-08 04:00:00","post_content":"\n When Aaron Luo, the co-founder and CEO of bag brand Caraa, isn't thinking about retail, he's thinking about fencing. Luo first took up the sport in high school and continues to fence competitively. His two sons fence, too, and since 2023, Luo has served as an adviser to the CEO of USA Fencing. \"We're very much a fencing family,\" Luo told Modern Retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, when it came time to develop a Caraa x USA Fencing collaboration<\/a>, Luo jumped at the chance to make products for fencers, by a fencer. The collection, released earlier this summer, includes three pieces (a backpack, insulated tote and sling), with a unique Pearl colorway for Olympians and Paralympians. The bags retail for $100-$315 and made their in-person debut at the Summer Nationals in Oregon from June 27-July 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Caraa, the new products are an opportunity to prove there's adequate demand for higher-end accessories for niche sports. While plenty of fashion brands work with athletes or sponsor sports teams, many stick to mainstream sports like basketball, soccer, baseball or football. It's less common for a high-end, more premium fashion brand to venture into sports like fencing, judo, water polo or squash, Luo explained. That leaves plenty of white space for brands like Caraa to step in, especially when it comes to working directly with NGBs, or National Governing Bodies for sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"Brands often aren't interested in that kind of partnership, because the audience is pretty niche, and it's pretty small,\" Luo said. \"If you look at a lot of these [NGB] organizations, the products are very much viewed almost just like merch \u2014 [there's] a lot of coffee mugs, printed T-shirts and printed hoodies. There's nothing 'fashion,' in the sense that there's nothing bespoke, nothing custom-made, nothing custom-designed.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caraa, which Luo co-founded in 2015, is now trying to make a name for itself in that field. \"We've had these organizations approaching us and asking, 'Do you want to do a collaboration?'\" Luo said. As the Team USA community is small, NGB CEOs are \"sharing notes on what's working and what's not,\" Luo said. Since the fencing collection debuted, \"I've been introduced to a few organizations already, as far as, 'Hey, this is really cool, what you guys are doing. Can we get [in] on that?'\" Luo shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the audiences for these sports may be smaller, they're also loyal. \"When you present a product that's unique and special \u2014 and not just label-slapping \u2014 they recognize it, and they want to support it,\" said Luo, who also oversees the charcuterie brand Mercado Famous<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fencers, in particular, tend to have higher household incomes, making them ideal customers for the higher-end fashion market, Luo said. And many are \"ready to spend\" at events like tournaments, he shared. \"People, I think, are very much in that mentality when they go to sports events to support the organization,\" he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More apparel companies, in general, are getting into sports to reach new audiences, especially as tentpole events like the World Cup<\/a> continue to influence culture. Athleisure brands<\/a> like Outdoor Voices, FP Movement and Vuori are rolling out collections specifically for sports like tennis, hiking and horseback riding. Meanwhile, Adidas, Fila and Marks & Spencer have gotten into pickleball products.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to fashion brands working with niche sports, \"There is a clear commercial opportunity,\" said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. \"The potential market size is nowhere near the scale of the big national sports, but the audiences are very engaged and receptive,\" he told Modern Retail. \"The trick is to have authentic connections to the sport and to engage with the community. That can be hard for bigger brands to justify, but smaller brands can do this in a way that feels genuine.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, Greg Portell, lead partner in global markets at strategy and management consulting firm Kearney, told Modern Retail that focusing on niche sports \"allows smaller brands to be the proverbial big fish in a small pond.\" Still, inking a partnership with a sports body doesn't automatically translate to sales, he explained. \"Brands still need to have thoughtful design, meaningful messaging and strong execution,\" Portell added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end, Luo wanted Caraa's new bags to fit fencers' needs. The insulated tote, for instance, can carry fencers' snacks and drinks at four-hour tournaments. Also, while fencers must wear white, the Caraa x USA Fencing bags have pops of color, as well as fencing-inspired patches and a custom lining. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \"We selected a very special fabric that's usually used for luxury bags,\" Luo said. \"That's kind of a point that we're trying to make: Not everything needs to look like Nike or Adidas. It doesn't have to be a sports backpack.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Early response has been strong, Luo said. Caraa initially expected its fencing collection to have a 30% sell-through rate within its first week of launch. It ended up exceeding that, at 40%. \"Early KPIs feel like we're going down the right direction,\" Luo said. Profits from the collection go to the USA Fencing Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the second half of the year, Caraa will continue to focus on product innovation and expanding into new categories. \"We went into the second half of 2026 somewhat cautiously, but we definitely are growing, in terms of numbers,\" Luo said. The brand is gearing up to launch Caraa Kids later in July. It is also working on its first gym collection in nearly a decade; those products will debut in the fall.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Why Caraa sees a future in niche sports like fencing","post_excerpt":"On the heels of its new collaboration with USA Fencing, bag brand Caraa sees a larger opportunity to work with National Governing Bodies for other sports like judo, water polo or squash. ","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"why-caraa-sees-a-future-in-niche-sports-like-fencing","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-07 17:12:38","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-07 21:12:38","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164542","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/fencingpngshorizontal_0001_fencingggg0045-3-3.jpg?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/marketing\/why-caraa-sees-a-future-in-niche-sports-like-fencing","categories":[{"term_id":200,"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":200,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":1384,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":200,"category_count":1384,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Marketing","category_nicename":"marketing","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 08, 2026","meta_title":"Why Caraa sees a future in niche sports like fencing","excerpt":"On the heels of its new collaboration with USA Fencing, bag brand Caraa sees a larger opportunity to work with National Governing Bodies for other sports like judo, water polo or squash. "},{"ID":164365,"post_author":"5792","post_date":"2026-07-08 00:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-08 04:00:00","post_content":"\n When the wearable breast pump company Willow was founded in 2014, pumping breast milk was a sit-down endeavor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most nursing moms tended to use an electronic pump connected to a large battery, a bulky and multi-part contraption that required the mom to sit down and stay put with cords dangling from her chest. But the Willow was a wearable pump that could be placed inside a bra, allowing moms to walk around while pumping hands-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"We had breast pumps that were not designed for the women who used them,\" said Willow CEO Sarah O'Leary. \"They were so inconvenient, and tied you down and all of that. Our core innovation of a pump designed around the person using it, that could go in your bra so you can move around while you pump, was an idea that turned a whole category on its head very fast.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over a decade later, the wearable breast pump is a common purchase for a mom-to-be, with models available from brands like Momcozy, Zomee and Spectra. Insurance marketplaces that sell breast pumps even have \"wearable\" as a product filter now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n O'Leary said Willow generally sees the competition as a sign that the brand successfully disrupted the category. But she's cautious of copycats, worried that quickly duped products may undercut safety in a race to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her advice to other brands? \"Don't let the race disrupt what you're truly good at and what is really hard to copy, which is that truly customer-oriented, user-focused innovation,\" she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Willow's attempt to stay atop a growing category<\/a> is an example of the opportunities and challenges faced by \"first movers,\" or brands that launch in a white space and become category creators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, such companies are some of the ones that are faring the best in a tepid consumer environment: SharkNinja, known for its viral product drops like the ice cream maker Ninja Creami, saw 15.6% year-over-year growth<\/a> to $1.41 billion in the first quarter of this year, driven by double-digit growth in cleaning, cooking and beauty appliances. Oura, the first wearable health-tracking ring company, founded in 2013, reached an $11 billion valuation in October 2025 and filed for an IPO this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But being a category creator comes with its own set of new-to-market challenges, from customer adoption to distribution to copycats. Company leaders at Shark Ninja, Oura and Willow say the key is solving an actual problem that is an unmet market need \u2014 then continuing to listen to customer feedback to stay ahead. Growing retail distribution and protecting intellectual property are also critical to fending off copycats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Willow, which is privately held and doesn't share revenue figures, has aimed to maintain its competitive advantage with a large footprint; it's sold in about 1,900 Target stores and 200 Kohl's doors, plus online marketplaces like Babylist and FSA Store. In November<\/a>, it launched its wearable manual pump, Willow Wave, at 1,600 Walmart locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"One of the ways you continue to win is you have to continue to focus on truly bringing new ideas to the category,\" O'Leary said. \"And for us, that means clinically efficacious innovation, so that when we bring something to market, we know it's going to work.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies that are category creators tend to begin from the same place: finding a creative solution to an unmet need or problem. Any technologies or inventions included in a breakthrough product help to solve the problem. In Willow's case, the unmet need was that existing pumping supplies left women literally tethered down, and the technology was the slightly egg-shaped pump that could operate from inside a bra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like Willow, the Oura Ring tapped an unmet need, but in the wearable health-tracking category. The company was founded in 2013 in Finland and brought its first product to market in 2015, a time when companies like Garmin and Fitbit provided tracking technology that focused on steps or fitness. Chief Marketing Officer Doug Sweeny said Oura found its place in the market by focusing on sleep tracking, as well as the discreet wearability of a fashionable ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"It sits at this interesting intersection [of healthcare and jewelry], and I think that intersection is somewhere we can continue to own and carve out,\" he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of its strongest adoption came after the Covid-19 pandemic when interest in health and wellness began to skyrocket. And since 2023, it has begun to show up in brick-and-mortar retailers like Best Buy, <\/a>Target and Costco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sweeny also said the company has looked to drive awareness in places where it sees its product naturally and organically popping up, pointing to its partnerships as the Official Wearable for U.S. Soccer and the U.S. Open. \"Some of the reasons why we formalize these partnerships is we were already integrated within the athlete teams, and with the trainers and the coaches who are already using it.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Oura was a first-of-its-kind wearable ring, other category creators can come from shaking up a stale category. Ross Richardson, chief design officer at SharkNinja who has been with the company since 2015, said the product development process often begins with identifying experiences consumers love but can't replicate at home, whether perfectly blended frozen drinks or crispy fries. From there, the team designs products that aim to be foolproof and easier to use than existing alternatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, at-home ice cream makers were sold on the market when the Ninja Creami went viral in 2023. But SharkNinja's product has a few key advantages, such as processing already-frozen ingredients that can be served right away. Churn-based ice cream makers mix ingredients first and then require 12-24 hours of refrigeration. The Ninja Creami can also serve up healthier options, as its shaving mechanism can allow for water, non-fat dairy and sugar-free sweeteners in its recipes. And in the case of the hit frozen drink mixer Ninja Slushi, it doesn't require ice like a traditional blender might.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"At its core, one of the most important things for me in any consumer product is that it really has to offer what it says it offers,\" Richardson said. \"We developed technologies in our products that allowed them to operate independently of you having to know anything about what you're throwing in them, so you always get that perfect output all the time.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Richardson said SharkNinja products are also able to maintain their competitive advantage in part because of their design and aesthetics. Internally, the company uses a \"threshold of virality\" as a metric of success, where something is so compelling that people want to share it and talk about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He points to the Ninja BlendBoss, a personal blender that carries like a tumbler and comes in multiple colorways. \"One of the biggest opportunities we have is creating products that are just desirable at a different level,\" he said. \"The product just becomes a piece of culture and a piece of lifestyle.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n After achieving market dominance, though, companies may find their products copied or \"duped.\" This sometimes winds up getting resolved in courtrooms; Oura last year<\/a> received a victory at the U.S. International Trade Commission in its patent infringement allegations against its competitor Ultrahuman. It's also looked to leverage its dominance with a multi-year license for RingConn smart rings and their companion app, which includes royalty payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Willow's O\u2019Leary declined to share details on the company\u2019s strategies to protect its IP. But the company sued competitor Elvie back in 2023 over infringement allegations, then later acquired the brand in May 2025.<\/a> Looking back, O'Leary said Elvie shared much of the same DNA as Willow as a breakthrough brand in the \"femtech\" category. \"It was two innovative companies trying to change a tired category,\" she said. \"Competition is good, and it kept us on our toes. We kept making pumps better as a result of each other being in the market.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Willow still faces the current challenge of lower-cost competitors coming into the category. O'Leary said some are more legitimate than others, calling it an \"artificially intense competitive situation\u201d when there may be lesser-quality products coming to market. \u201cIt actually disrupts true innovation, as opposed to enabling it with what I would consider kind of healthy head-to-head competition.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breast pumps<\/a> are class II medical devices, meaning the category is regulated by the FDA. If consumers buy dupes from online marketplaces that are not FDA-cleared, it could dampen the wearable category as a whole, O\u2019Leary said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"A new mom goes on Amazon and buys a product that she sees has a ton of five-star reviews. ... And then she tries it, and the motor dies, and it's uncomfortable, and she doesn't get good milk output,\" O'Leary said, \"So she says, 'Hey, I don't know if wearable pumps are effective.' But really, what has happened is she's bought a subpar product.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n In response to market conditions, Willow has sought to remain competitive on price by leveraging its own scale, O'Leary said. The Willow Go <\/a>launched in 2022 at $329 as a more affordable alternative to its original product, which costs $499. The Willow Go now goes for $300 before sale or insurance benefits. In September, Willow released the Willow Wave, a hands-free version of a traditional manual pump that costs about $35 and allows users to pump without electricity, batteries or apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"We recognize and have always recognized that not every mom is going to be able to afford a $500 breast pump,\" O'Leary said. \"So, from the beginning, as a mission-driven company, we had in our roadmap to work to bring the cost threshold down over time.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n O'Leary also pointed to the brand's day-to-day customer support operation as a way that it has been able to retain its place in the market. \"It's not just about your marketing messages, but the promise you make to the consumer in the way you build products, and the way you extend your products,\" she said. \"We have moms who are on call who will do a video chat with you if you are having trouble with your pump or you need somebody to talk to.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Oura, Sweeny said that listening to customer feedback informs the company's product improvements and trajectory. The Oura 5, released in May, is about 40% smaller than its predecessor, a direct response to the feedback the company received from customers who wanted a ring that was thinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"You've got to listen to consumers. And this is why, on the Oura Ring 5, or on the software side, there's a constant feedback loop,\" he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, Oura debuted a ceramic line to address demand for a fashion-forward ring. The company has also released a slew of software updates in the past three and a half years to give the ring more use cases, like integrating with women's health app Natural Cycles. Looking ahead, Sweeny sees the trajectory and impact of GLP-1 drugs as potentially triggering another wave of updates based on which insights may be helpful for users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"You never put it out there and say, 'We're done!'\" Sweeny said. \"As a first mover, you can't get overly excited about some new technology advancement that you just think is cool for cool's sake. It's got to lead to solving a problem.\" <\/p>\n","post_title":"How category creators like Willow and Oura ward off dupes and defend their leads","post_excerpt":"In an age where dupes are more prevalent than ever before, companies are on the hunt for new ways to defend their first-mover advantage. Leaders at Willow, Oura and SharkNinja say the key to defending your position as a category creator is solving customer problems, not just launching first.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"how-category-creators-like-willow-and-oura-ward-off-dupes-and-defend-their-leads","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-08 12:25:13","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-08 16:25:13","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164365","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/Willow_Blog-SyncIntro_Inline_App_9x16_bfe301e7-3b3a-41d8-ac8d-7bac4f3600cb.jpg-e1783369917776.webp?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/operations\/how-category-creators-like-willow-and-oura-ward-off-dupes-and-defend-their-leads","categories":[{"term_id":202,"name":"Operations","slug":"operations","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":202,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative business operations from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":1654,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":202,"category_count":1654,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative business operations from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Operations","category_nicename":"operations","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 08, 2026","meta_title":"How category creators like Willow and Oura ward off dupes and defend their leads","excerpt":"In an age where dupes are more prevalent than ever before, companies are on the hunt for new ways to defend their first-mover advantage. Leaders at Willow, Oura and SharkNinja say the key to defending your position as a category creator is solving customer problems, not just launching first."},{"ID":164244,"post_author":"5829","post_date":"2026-07-07 10:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-07 14:00:00","post_content":"\n Salomon has its eye on North American store expansion as it gears up for its 80th birthday in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The European brand \u2014 which sells performance footwear, apparel and gear \u2014 is looking to plant its flag across the U.S. in a bigger way in the coming years. Salomon opened a new store in New York City earlier in July, bringing its number of standalone U.S. stores to six. The brand also plans to open a location in Beverly Hills this fall and is eyeing markets such as Boston, San Francisco and Miami. In total, Salomon could see its U.S. store count reach 12 to 15 by the end of 2027, said Steve Doolan, Salomon's general manager and president of the Americas, in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Salomon currently operates four stores in New York City, a store in Chicago and a store in Los Angeles, in addition to an outlet in New York's Central Valley and an outlet in Ogden, Utah. When it comes to new stores in the U.S., the company is going \"city by city,\" Salomon's CEO Guillaume Meyzenq said in an interview at Salomon's new store in New York City's Flatiron neighborhood. As Salomon plays in both performance and lifestyle, it's focusing on building in large cities, as well as ones where \"consumer demand is really popping up,\" Meyzenq explained. Salomon's U.S. stores have achieved four-wall profitability within the first year, Doolan added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Founded in 1947 in the French Alps, Salomon initially made a name for itself as an outdoors brand popular with skiers, hikers and snowboarders. Nowadays, it straddles the line between performance products and fashion-forward products \u2014 or, what the brand calls \"sportstyle.\" Rihanna, for instance, wore Salomon shoes<\/a> during her Super Bowl performance in 2023. In addition to footwear, Salomon sells clothing, accessories and hydration products. Salomon has stores in more than 20 markets, including one store in Canada and more than a dozen stores in Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Salomon is owned by Finnish retail conglomerate Amer Sports, which also oversees Wilson, Atomic and Arc'teryx. In May, Amer Sports said<\/a> its total first-quarter revenue was up 32% year over year. In February, Amer Sports CEO Jie Zheng called<\/a> Salomon a \"rising star\" and revealed that Salomon had surpassed $2 billion in sales in 2025. The brand, Zheng said, grew 35% year over year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As stores are key to growing Salomon's profile, the brand plans to make its owned stores into \"community hubs\" with programming and events. On July 8, Salomon will celebrate its new Flatiron store with a community run, a custom gear bar and an electrolyte happy hour. The brand also tends to tailor its stores to the needs of the surrounding community. Its Upper West Side store, for instance, carries more hydration vests, compared to other locations, due to its proximity to Central Park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even as it opens more standalone stores, Salomon isn't forgetting about wholesale. Under its so-called Epicenter strategy, the brand is working to increase wholesale distribution to key department store retailers. In North America, the vast majority of the brand's business, about two-thirds by Doolan's estimation, comes from retail partners like REI, Nordstrom and Fleet Feet. The remaining one-third comes from direct channels, like Salomon's owned stores and website. In other countries, like China, DTC makes up a much larger portion of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a brand growing its cultural cachet in North America, it's crucial for Salomon to have a \"full ecosystem\" in retail, Meyzenq said. That includes partners who can reach different customers in different geographies. Still, Salomon's standalone stores typically offer a larger assortment and act as a meeting place for discussions with B-to-B partners. There, Salomon can best show off \"the energy of the consumer and the traffic we have,\" Meyzenq said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Salomon is going into 44 Foot Locker doors later in July, and it continues to seek out partners across the Americas, Doolan said. \"For us, [wholesale] is an important part of our business and ultimately has to be a healthy part of our business, overall,\" he said. Still, Doolan said, there remains a challenge \"of making sure that each brand is appropriately reflected in how the product is merchandised and in the messaging that we come up with on both ends and share out.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likewise, it's a challenging time<\/a> for a brand like Salomon to try to expand, pointed out Beth Goldstein, a footwear industry analyst for Circana. Salomon sits in the fashion space, the performance space and the outdoor space, and \"those spaces have gotten a lot more competitive over the last few years \u2014 particularly, the running space,\" Goldstein said. Major players like Adidas and Nike, as well as newer players like Hoka and On, are \"fighting for share,\" Goldstein said. Throw in tariffs<\/a>, macroeconomic uncertainty and a shaky oil supply<\/a>, and there's more uncertainty to deal with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, Salomon is confident in its positioning, executives said. \"We're incredibly intentional about every single dollar we spend,\" Doolan said. \"[And] Salomon has a long heritage of really designing and building durable footwear, as one example, and I think that's something that is important to consumers.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2026 and beyond, the brand sees ample room for growth \u2014 not only in other markets outside of Europe (like the U.S., Australia and Japan), but also in fields like traditional running (in addition to outdoor and winter sports). Some of its new products, like its GRVL concept (pronounced \"gravel\"), are more specialized to fit consumers' needs. \"It's just a really soulful aspect of running,\" Doolan said. \"You're sort of out there and connected to dirt, which for me, is the piece that I like.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, right now, it's important for Salomon to lean into its heritage, while also \"telling the story of what you're bringing to the table,\" Goldstein said. \"Not trying to necessarily be everything to everybody \u2014 that's always a challenge for brands that are looking to grow into broader spaces,\" she continued. \"How does everything fit into the story that they [Salomon] want to be telling?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n As prediction markets become increasingly mainstream, consumers may start to see mentions of them in their online shopping carts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, sportswear brand Forme ran a unique campaign; it claimed to be the first brand to launch an e-commerce promotion hedged on a prediction market, in partnership with prediction market platform Kalshi and promotions platform PlayAbly. Between June 26 and June 30, customers who purchased from Forme\u2019s website using the \u201cTeam USA\u201d promo code would get a 100% cash refund on their order if the U.S. Men's National Team makes the World Cup final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, the team lost its match against Belgium on Monday, dashing customers' hopes for refunds. Still, the promotion generated an influx of interest. According to Forme, the brand saw a 4X increase in week-over-week traffic for its menswear products and nearly 20X traffic to its top men's styles. To facilitate the promotion \u2014 and to limit the risk Forme took on \u2014 Kalshi partnered with PlayAbly to help process the payout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Nicolas Hull, director of business development at Kalshi, these types of betting promotions show that prediction markets can function as a form of \u201cbusiness insurance\u201d for retail brands. Hull said that by using Kalshi\u2019s capabilities, Forme is testing how e-commerce retail brands can leverage prediction markets as an effective marketing and sales-driving tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alan Chen, vp of finance at Forme, said that Kalshi sought out Forme for the experimental promo, and Forme quickly agreed to put the campaign together in time for the U.S. Men's National Team's match against Bosnia Herzegovina on July 1. He added that while the World Cup angle made for buzzy timing, Forme was primarily interested in using the opportunity to promote that its products are made in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have been made in the USA pretty much close to the beginning, and we always look for opportunities to really highlight that,\u201d Chen said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Forme is also trying to grow its men\u2019s offerings through this sports betting promo. Chen said that while the brand has become known for its women\u2019s products, such as a posture-correcting bra, it\u2019s also building out a portfolio of men\u2019s science-backed sportswear. The company sells a range patented posture-correcting apparel, including its Smart Tee, Smart Alignment Shorts and Arch Booster Sock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The promotion was straightforward: Customers who made purchases during the allotted shopping window got <\/a> 100% cashback, excluding taxes and shipping, if the U.S. advanced into the World Cup final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chen explained that Forme\u2019s payout to PlayAbly is a predetermined percentage. Forme paid PlayAbly an underwriting fee for it to take on the risk on Kalshi. If Team USA won, PlayAbly would be the party to pay out to customers who purchased under this promotion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chen added that Forme wanted to cautiously test the concept with its own customer base first, promoting the Kalshi campaign through emails, SMS and its social media pages. \u201cWe were a bit cautious of how to promote it, as we're basically the pioneer testing this concept. We wanted to be a bit measured in where we put it out,\u201d Chen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is precedent for the Forme campaign, as more brands and sports organizations test campaigns centered on sports predictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most recently, a bar in New York City covered<\/a> $100 of customers\u2019 tabs after the Knicks won the first game of the NBA finals against the San Antonio Spurs. The owner was able to cover the prizes by hedging $5,000 on the Knicks through Kalshi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Martin Conway, adjunct professor of sports marketing at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business, echoed that this is not necessarily a breakthrough type of campaign. There's a precedent of mattress companies and furniture companies offering to refund customers if some longshot sports outcome is achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier this year, Connecticut-based Jordan's Furniture took<\/a> on the risk of refunding customers for all purchases between between Jan. 20 and March 1 \u2014 which would have totaled $50 million \u2014 if both the men and women\u2019s UConn basketball teams reached their respective national championship games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut now, what you have is a prediction market like Kalshi stepping in and adding another element to it,\u201d Conway said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conway went on to say that, with the public\u2019s increasing consciousness of the prediction market, it makes sense that companies like Kalshi are seeking out hedged bets from retail brands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If the Forme promotion is successful in generating sales, Conway said this opens up the opportunity for Kalshi to run other national promotions around sports, such as the next Olympics or other professional league finals like hockey and basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For brands, Conway said, the investment has to be weighed against the specific sports competition and predicted outcome. In this case, the U.S.\u2019s chances of making it to the finals are relatively low. But that may not be the case for other teams or events, Conway said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for the customer targeting, Conway said Forme\u2019s tight approach makes sense. \u201cAs a brand you're going to be putting more dollars and more risk into the acquisition funnel,\u201d he said. That type of payout can end up being hundreds of thousands of dollars if the prediction promo is not done in a controlled manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a strategic approach that is novel,\u201d Conway said. \u201cBut brands have to ask themselves what exactly they are in the market for and what type of customer they are hoping to acquire via this type of promotion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for the professional sports angle, Forme\u2019s Chen said it\u2019s a space that Forme is trying to further experiment with in its marketing efforts. The brand is the official posture and recovery sponsor of the MLB Players Association, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUltimately, the promotion gave us a creative way to engage our existing customers while introducing Forme to Kalshi's predominantly male audience,\u201d Chen said. \u201cStructuring it this way also allowed us to responsibly hedge the financial risk of offering such a meaningful promotion.\u201d<\/p>\n","post_title":"Why Forme launched a World Cup promotion hedged on Kalshi","post_excerpt":"Forme used Kalshi to hedge a World Cup refund promo, which helped lift the brand's menswear traffic on its site. The campaign is a novel example of how e-commerce brands could use predictions markets as marketing tools.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"why-forme-launched-a-world-cup-promotion-hedged-on-kalshi","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-07 12:36:25","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-07 16:36:25","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164485","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/20260310_FORME_DARIA_LOOK_05_0043_V1.jpg?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/marketing\/why-forme-launched-a-world-cup-promotion-hedged-on-kalshi","categories":[{"term_id":200,"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":200,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":1384,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":200,"category_count":1384,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Marketing","category_nicename":"marketing","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 07, 2026","meta_title":"Why Forme launched a World Cup promotion hedged on Kalshi","excerpt":"Forme used Kalshi to hedge a World Cup refund promo, which helped lift the brand's menswear traffic on its site. The campaign is a novel example of how e-commerce brands could use predictions markets as marketing tools."},{"ID":164268,"post_author":"5890","post_date":"2026-07-07 00:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-07 04:00:00","post_content":"\n Welcome to \u201cWhat\u2019s In Your Cart,\u201d a Modern Retail series where executives at some of the world\u2019s biggest brands and retail companies tell us about their personal shopping habits \u2014 from their favorite finds and guilty shopping pleasures to their most regrettable buys and impulse purchases. We last spoke with Carly Gomez<\/a>, chief marketing officer at Crocs. Up next is Richa Srivastava, Anthropologie's Chief Creative Officer. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Richa Srivastava jokes that working in fashion has ruined shopping for her. Years of studying fit and material and drape have left her unable to browse without dissecting everything in front of her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou notice every fit, and you notice every seam, and you notice every construction detail,\u201d she said. \u201cWhy is it that you gravitate towards that one white tee versus another white tee? That part of my brain is always on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Srivastava has spent much of her career thinking about why people fall in love with certain objects. As Anthropologie's chief creative officer of design, she leads design across the retailer's women's apparel business. She grew up in India and moved to the U.S. for fashion school at FIT, landing in New York, where she spent close to two decades working at design houses like Adrianna Papell and Liz Claiborne. She joined Anthropologie over a decade ago and, true New Yorker that she is, spent a full year commuting two hours each way from the city before finally settling in Philadelphia, where the retailer is headquartered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was very much like, \u2018I'm never going to leave New York,\u2019 and then Philly slowly won me over,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like a lot of us, Srivastava treats her online cart as a wish list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI'm one of those people that's kind of a chronic add-to-cart type of person,\u201d she said. \u201cBuying is like a whole separate decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Srivastava gets ready to travel, she always leaves room for one extra bag on the way home. Tucked into her suitcase is an empty yet oversized REI duffel that she jokingly calls her \"body bag.\u201d It packs down to almost nothing but unfolds into a giant tote that inevitably comes home stuffed with finds from antique shops, design stores and fashion boutiques. One trip to Copenhagen, for instance, yielded Russian nesting dolls that reminded her of a similar set her military father brought home after spending a year stationed in Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat's part of what I really love about traveling,\u201d Srivastava said. \u201cYou run into something, or you find something that you totally didn't expect to see, and then you buy it, and then it forever becomes a memory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Srivastava\u2019s duffel bag gets a real workout. On another trip, she bought a gravity tray by a Japanese designer after spotting it at a photography exhibit. In fact, Japan is one of her favorite travel destinations for shopping because she feels day-to-day life there is very driven by design and creativity. As she put it, \u201cEvery little object that you would use on a daily basis is brilliantly designed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One notable example is stationery. Actually, Srivastava is a self-described \u201cstationery nerd,\u201d and Tokyo, in particular, is \u201ca treat\u201d because it\u2019s \u201cthe place to be\u201d for stationery. Pens, notebooks, planners and organizers all make the trip home with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While new brands constantly appear on her radar, Srivastava's heart belongs to vintage fashion. She still searches for pieces from designers she admired while studying fashion, including Maison Margiela, Gianfranco Ferr\u00e9 and Anne Val\u00e9rie Hash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her closet is full of repeat purchases, too. Sneakers and chore jackets top the list. \u201cThere's always going to be a perfect one,\u201d Srivastava said. \u201cJudging by my closet, I found the perfect one, like, 25 times at least.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She's also not immune to a trend cycle, admitting to caving on both mesh ballet flats and barrel jeans. \u201cThe algorithm won,\u201d she said of finally buying the flats after seeing them repeatedly and telling herself she wouldn\u2019t buy them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By her own admission, Srivastava is an emotional shopper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf there's anything that I love, I'll find a way to justify it to myself,\u201d she said, \"I've been like that since as long as I can remember.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once, a colleague had a tattoo of an abstract artwork she'd created herself, and Srivastava loved it enough to ask her to print it on a T-shirt. She bought it on the spot. \u201cI truly cherish it,\u201d she said, \"and once it's threadbare, I'm going to frame whatever's left of it. That's how attached I get.\u201d<\/p>\n","post_title":"Anthropologie Chief Creative Officer Richa Srivastava on Japanese stationery, chore jackets and her 'body bag' duffel","post_excerpt":"In the latest installment of \"What's in Your Cart,\" the Chief Creative Officer at Anthropologie, Richa Srivastava, shares her personal shopping habits with Modern Retail. ","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"anthropologies-chief-creative-officer-richa-srivastava-on-japanese-stationery-chore-jackets-and-her-body-bag-duffel","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-06 18:24:07","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-06 22:24:07","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164268","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/IMG_2437-e1783371384209.jpeg?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/marketing\/anthropologies-chief-creative-officer-richa-srivastava-on-japanese-stationery-chore-jackets-and-her-body-bag-duffel","categories":[{"term_id":200,"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":200,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":1384,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":200,"category_count":1384,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Marketing","category_nicename":"marketing","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 07, 2026","meta_title":"Anthropologie Chief Creative Officer Richa Srivastava on Japanese stationery, chore jackets and her 'body bag' duffel","excerpt":"In the latest installment of \"What's in Your Cart,\" the Chief Creative Officer at Anthropologie, Richa Srivastava, shares her personal shopping habits with Modern Retail. "},{"ID":163996,"post_author":"5792","post_date":"2026-07-06 10:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-06 14:00:00","post_content":"\n Below is the latest edition of Modern Retail\u2019s Supply Chain Weekly newsletter, which goes out on Mondays at 10 a.m. ET, and dives into all things logistics and supply chain during a tumultuous time for the retail industry. To receive this weekly in your inbox<\/em>, click here<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brands that sell in California are still scrambling to understand the state's sweeping new packaging laws that will charge them higher fees for plastic materials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, or Senate Bill 54, is an extended producer responsibility law meant to cut down on single-use plastic and other materials. It requires brands to pay material-specific fees for their packaging and foodware waste, with higher amounts for non-recyclable materials like single-use plastic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The law was signed in 2022, and the corresponding plans have been a long time coming. But this summer saw progress when the Circular Action Alliance, the nonprofit contracted to implement the program, submitted its program plan in mid-June<\/a>. Public comments will be accepted for consideration before August 14. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sara Lowe, senior executive administrator at the packaging manufacturer Bay Cities Packaging and Design, said some companies are still getting up to speed on what the changes are and how to comply. While some EPR laws may be sector-specific, SB 54 applies to producers across all categories with a few exemptions.<\/a> \"California is not a small market for anyone, so it's very easy to be in scope under this law,\" she said. \"And that is a percentage of brands' businesses that they can't afford to walk away from.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ambitious law is also subject to litigation. In late June<\/a>, 17 state attorneys general and the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors filed a lawsuit alleging SB54 is an unconstitutional overreach from the state of California. Goals of the program include ensuring that 100% of packaging in California is recyclable or compostable by 2032 and that 25% of plastic packaging is source-reduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lowe said Bay Cities has been working to prepare clients by showing them what potential fees they could face based on their current packaging. According to an illustrative fee schedule released in May, the fees are calculated with a cents-per-pound base fee, plus additional reuse fees, plastic-specific fees or component-based fees based on the material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lowe said her team is also showing brands what costs may look like based on the existing EPR packaging law in Oregon.<\/a> Typically, packaging with plastic comes with higher fees than recyclable alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"We're really using this as an educational tool to show how plastic has traditionally been cheaper, but that math is going to start to change,\" Lowe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But actually making a swap is easier said than done, and Lowe said some brands have traditionally been hesitant to be the \"first mover\" into a new, more sustainable realm. But SB 54 \"puts the thumb on the scale\" by forcing all brands to move in a new direction. \"Brands are now looking around going, 'Oh, we're all going to move eventually,'\" Lowe said. \"So now it's an advantage to being the first and being the pioneer in that space.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n As far as potential swaps, Lowe said most brands are interested in fiber-based options such as bamboo or cardboard. \"The big push is still into fiber, anywhere people can get out of plastic and into a fiber,\" she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not every solution involves eliminating plastic altogether. \"There's a huge fee difference\" between \"a multi-material laminate that can't be recycled anywhere versus a PET bottle that can be recycled basically anywhere,\" Lowe said. \"Sometimes it's [switching from] plastic to a better form of plastic.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first invoices from California are expected to be sent to companies in early 2027. Lowe anticipates more companies will be taking careful stock of their materials at that time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \"After they pay that first invoice, I expect this to accelerate again,\" she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Electronics prices are starting to soar, adding to the stress consumers are facing<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The best time to buy electronics is likely in the past, with companies like Apple, Microsoft and Nintendo announcing price hikes on some of their most popular products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These price hikes come as the memory chip industry has undergone a major supply crunch, partly due to the demand from companies building AI data centers. But as MR's Mitchell Parton reports, the impact of the chip shortage will be felt not only by larger electronics companies and retailers, but also consumers and smaller manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew Hassett, founder and CEO of Loftie, which sells smart alarm clocks, said the prices of the SD cards his company uses in its clocks went up three times around March of this year. \u201cThis has been happening for the last year or so, but it\u2019s only starting to hit sort of the mainstream press now,\u201d he said, because AI companies are buying up so many memory chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nike says it expects $986 million in IEEPA tariff refunds<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We're seeing the effects of tariff refunds start to affect brands' bottom lines and operations. After BJ's Wholesale earlier in June said it would be lowering some prices after receiving some tariff refunds, Nike revealed on its earnings call last Tuesday that its growth margin for its fiscal fourth quarter of 2026 increased 890 basis points to 49.2%, \u201cprimarily due to the expected recovery of the IEEPA tariffs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n MR's Julia Waldow reports that Nike's North America business expects to recover $965 million in tariff refunds from the U.S. government, while its Converse business expects to recover $21 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In May, consumers filed a class-action lawsuit against Nike, seeking to recoup extra costs they paid because of tariffs. \u201cUnless restrained by this court, Nike stands to recover the same tariff payments twice \u2014 once from consumers through higher prices and again from the federal government through tariff refunds,\u201d the complaint reads. However, as we've reported, <\/a>shoppers in general are unlikely to see a large piece of tariff refunds returned to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","post_title":"California's new packaging laws are changing the economics of plastic","post_excerpt":"California's new packaging extended producer responsibility law means thousands of brands may wind up changing their packaging. ","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"californias-new-packaging-laws-are-changing-the-economics-of-plastic","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-06 11:54:04","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-06 15:54:04","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=163996","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/03\/Modern-Retail-Supply-Chain-art-6.jpg?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/operations\/californias-new-packaging-laws-are-changing-the-economics-of-plastic","categories":[{"term_id":202,"name":"Operations","slug":"operations","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":202,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative business operations from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":1654,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":202,"category_count":1654,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative business operations from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Operations","category_nicename":"operations","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 06, 2026","meta_title":"California's new packaging laws are changing the economics of plastic","excerpt":"California's new packaging extended producer responsibility law means thousands of brands may wind up changing their packaging. "}],"posts_count":15,"found_posts":15}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/260506_POPPI_OLANDRIA_BENJO-ARWAS_SHOT_5_350_1.jpg?w=877\")
Sesto said that at Poppi, partnerships are meant to be an extension of its brand strategy, rather than standalone campaigns, and \u201cLove Island USA\u201d is a prime example of that. \u201cOur goal is to keep Poppi at the center of culture by showing up in the moments consumers already care about,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Brands won this season of 'Love Island USA'","post_excerpt":"\"Love Island USA\" has become a cultural phenomenon that many brands can no longer ignore. Ad sales were up 73% across the hit show this season, and \"Love Island\" has now become an integral part of summer-long marketing campaigns for brands like Poppi. ","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"brands-won-this-season-of-love-island-usa","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-11 21:35:17","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-12 01:35:17","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164864","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/07\/NUP_210651_10377-1.jpg?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/marketing\/brands-won-this-season-of-love-island-usa","categories":[{"term_id":200,"name":"Marketing","slug":"marketing","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":200,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":1384,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":200,"category_count":1384,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative marketing approaches from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Marketing","category_nicename":"marketing","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 10, 2026","meta_title":"Brands won this season of 'Love Island USA'","excerpt":"\"Love Island USA\" has become a cultural phenomenon that many brands can no longer ignore. Ad sales were up 73% across the hit show this season, and \"Love Island\" has now become an integral part of summer-long marketing campaigns for brands like Poppi. "},{"ID":164649,"post_author":"5904","post_date":"2026-07-10 00:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-10 04:00:00","post_content":"\n
Taryn Dominie, senior director and head of industry for Orange Apron Media \u2014 The Home Depot\u2019s retail media network \u2014 said the diversity of the growing soccer fan base mirrors that of its customer base, especially among its pro customers. \"A good majority of our pro customers are multicultural, and [The World Cup] just gives us a way to really connect in a deeper, more meaningful way with those pro customers,\" she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat I'm reading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What we've covered<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Levi Strauss & Co. filed two new trademark lawsuits this year, one against Brazilian brand Farm Rio<\/a> and another against Australian brand S\/Double<\/a>, for allegedly infringing on its nearly 90-year-old tab trademark, which protects the red label that says \"Levi's\" sewn onto the back pocket of its jeans, as well as other variations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","post_title":"Levi's has filed 2 new lawsuits this year to protect its red tab trademark","post_excerpt":"Levi's has sought to protect its red tab trademark this year by filing lawsuits against Farm Rio and the Australian brand S\/Double. The lawsuits accuse the brands of using similar design elements that risk customer confusion and cause harm to the Levi's brand. ","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"levis-has-filed-2-new-lawsuits-this-year-to-protect-its-red-tab-trademark","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-07-08 19:03:14","post_modified_gmt":"2026-07-08 23:03:14","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/?p=164553","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/04\/Pop-In@Nordstrom-x-Levis_Connie-Zhou_6-e1783538212788.jpg?w=165&h=94&crop=1","permalink":"https:\/\/www.modernretail.co\/operations\/levis-has-filed-2-new-lawsuits-this-year-to-protect-its-red-tab-trademark","categories":[{"term_id":202,"name":"Operations","slug":"operations","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":202,"taxonomy":"category","description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative business operations from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","parent":0,"count":1654,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":202,"category_count":1654,"category_description":"In-depth analysis, interviews and news about innovative business operations from the authority on the reinvention of the retail industry.","cat_name":"Operations","category_nicename":"operations","category_parent":0}],"str_date":"JUL 09, 2026","meta_title":"Levi's has filed 2 new lawsuits this year to protect its red tab trademark","excerpt":"Levi's has sought to protect its red tab trademark this year by filing lawsuits against Farm Rio and the Australian brand S\/Double. The lawsuits accuse the brands of using similar design elements that risk customer confusion and cause harm to the Levi's brand. "},{"ID":164713,"post_author":"6018","post_date":"2026-07-08 17:05:29","post_date_gmt":"2026-07-08 21:05:29","post_content":"\nConsumers\u2019 shift in search behavior becomes a habit\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
AI-driven search rewards brand reputation over owned media<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Reddit \u2014 where community conversations happen outside a marketing team\u2019s control \u2014 is the top-cited single domain across every major AI engine at 40% frequency, according to 5W\u2019s 2026 AI Platform Citation Source Index<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDigital PR becomes a primary strategy in AI-driven search<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If an LLM can\u2019t read a brand\u2019s data, the brand is not a contender<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What can brands do next?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nTapping the consumer need <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The challenges of competition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Staying innovative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat we're reading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What we've covered<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Souvenir shopping<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Vintage favorites and repeat buys\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
An emotional shopper<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The week in tariffs <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What we've covered<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What we're reading <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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